Barbara Lee is one of the voices that will continue to make the issue of poverty heard. She is a Congressman from California and she has introduced three bills to combat poverty. One requires the President to submit to Congress a plan for eliminating poverty. The second would toll back tax cuts for the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans and dedicate the fund to programs for the elimination of poverty. The third would require Congress to report on the poverty impact of any piece of legislation. She wants Congress to pay attention to whether a bill will increase the growing level of poverty in the U.S. and how a piece of legislation will impact the lives and livelihood of low income people.

As the media attention to poverty gradually dwindles after Hurricane Katrina, there are still 37 million people living in poverty in the United States and real change will require a lot more than three pieces of legislation that are unlikely to be passed.